Monday, March 27, 2006

Oblivion

Well, I have to say I am humbled. I was not too excited by Oblivion, spelled out in this thread last month. I was e-mailed by a bunch of people to at least give the game a try. I went out and bought the PC version because I'm in the camp where control just isn't the same on the consoles for a game that is also available on the PC unless it is sports games.

All I can say so far is WOW! I did not enjoy Morrowind at all and I think I'm liking Oblivion more simply because tasks are well explained and you also have access to the quick trip via the map. I am also enjoying going off on my own and doing things outside of the main story, but the main quests are also sucking me in. I don't have a whole lot of hours under my belt because work has been busy and I had a busy weekend, but when I've had a spare moment I've played Oblivion. The graphics are very nice and I will probably tweak them to get somewhat rid of the undetailed horizon shots outside, but overall the graphics are fantastic and the frames only drop when there are a lot of characters on-screen at the same time.

I only have one minus early on and that is that you can become over-encumbered way too easily. I personally was trying to hold onto expensive items so I could sell them to merchants and increase my gold, but many times I had to drop my stuff somewhere, pick up the stuff I want to sell, sell them and then go back and pick up my good stuff and re-equip myself. It is a bit of a chore, but I can understand the encumbrance needs in the game.

So far I agree with all the reviews and would easily put this in the 90s if I still did reviews on that scale. I hope to have a review coming up, but I need a bit more time with the game. From what I have played though I recommend picking the game up and playing it, it really is excellent.